


Sour Times

by sapphire2309



Category: White Collar
Genre: Gen, Spoilers for 6x02
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-14
Updated: 2014-11-14
Packaged: 2018-05-24 16:24:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6159544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sapphire2309/pseuds/sapphire2309
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He doesn't need to fall for that lie again, because he'll fall hard, and it's entirely possible that he won't absorb the impact.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sour Times

**Author's Note:**

> Title from the song of the same name by The Civil Wars, which I think is a cover of a song that was originally by Portishead. For Challenge #29 - Weekly Quick Fic #11, for the prompts Pretty Lies and You Walk A Lonely Road over at writerverse. I just wrote an honest to goodness episode tag, right after watching an episode. Never done that before. And this is the first time I've written Keller into a fic, so even though he does literally nothing, I'm calling him a character.  
>  **Disclaimer:** White Collar is Jeff Eastin's brainchild. Not mine.  
> 

_You're going to be free._

Neal has seen that phrase turn false twice.

It wasn't a lie, not when the words were said. But now, they feel bitter, feel like a betrayal, like a lie, they won't leave his tongue, won't go past his teeth. He should swallow them down, but they'll probably react badly with his stomach. And he wants to say them, doesn't want to let it go, even though he should.

By now, he should have accepted that the Bureau is going to cling to him somehow or other, should have put his head down and done his job, as per usual. He doesn't need to fall for that lie again, because he'll fall hard, and it's entirely possible that he won't absorb the impact, that he'll leave behind an ugly mess on a slab of concrete because he thought he had a parachute but he didn't. He doesn't.

This time, though, he's in control. This time, it's all on him. And he can count on himself. Which means that this time, he's going to get it.

Or so he thought, right up until he described people like Keller and ended up describing people like himself too.

He's desperate. He's seen that already. He's taking chances that he wouldn't have considered worth the risk before. His desperation is cracking his facade and showing Peter exactly what lengths he's willing to go to.

And he'll never admit it, but after a lifetime of working for everything he's got (cons take work, what are you talking about) he wants his freedom gift wrapped and ready to go.

He's used to dealing with plans going awry, but this time, even though the Pink Panthers have a reputation that is the stuff of legends, he really thought he was in control, he really thought he'd be the ringmaster. He thought he'd steal a few things for them, with them, wait for the Bureau to get their ducks in a line, and then walk away.

But Keller is just as desperate as he is. Both of them are throwing everything they've got into the game. They'll probably peak and crash together, neither gaining on either.

He suddenly feels horribly alone.

He's got Mozzie, of course, but suddenly, he's hurtling down a deserted road all by himself, with more roadblocks than he'd expected (aren't there always). He can navigate them, jump and duck and sprint as required, but he is so tired of the marathon being just a series of sprints with no time to break form.

He's lived all his life with that desperate urgency, take it now or someone else will, run or get caught, move, move, _move_. And now he wants to stop.

It's somewhat ironic that in order to stop, he has to go faster than he ever has before. And he doesn't quite trust himself at this breakneck speed. It's too easy to miss things, to ignore the fine details he needs to know to do what he does, to forget the fact that the ground's there and he's here, forcing his legs to find purchase on clouds, on dust, on hopes and dreams and pretty little lies.

He doesn't like this at all.

But it's for his freedom. He'll give it all he's got and then some.


End file.
